


Wave Rock

by missmariie



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Australia, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Road Trips, Wave Rock
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-29
Updated: 2015-11-29
Packaged: 2018-05-03 23:16:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5310845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missmariie/pseuds/missmariie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rodney and Sheppard set off into the West Australian wheatbelt with Rodney's grandfather's ashes, on a strange pilgrimage to Wave Rock.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wave Rock

**Author's Note:**

> Hi SGA fandom! This is my first attempt to join you guys. As such, I don't have a beta in these parts, so any kind pointing out of mistakes, or offers to help me out with the rest of the fic would be really appreciated. 
> 
> I was rereading an old fic of mine the other day, and I realised that between there being a public park bbq and the characters wearing 'jumpers', my Australian was showing. There may have also been an incident when I reduced a fandom to minor chaos by using the term 'chook pen'. So I thought, 'what the hell?', and have since been plotting an Australian fic in my head. I'm trying to make it an Australian kind of story, rather than just having it be a setting. It's kind of an effort to give the characters Australian slang and keep their voices, but I hope I'm managing okay. There'll be a glossary of terms and the like down the bottom. Let me know if I miss something in it! 
> 
>  
> 
> P.S. We do not 'pop a shrimp on the barbie'. We call them prawns, goddamn it! 
> 
> P.P.S. Language warning. There's no swearing yet, other than in the glossary, but I'm sure there will be.

It had been a scorching day, but the sea breeze had blown away the clouds and the cool bite the night leached into the air was trying to suck the heat out of the bitumen. The warmth that still bled out of the ground kept John from shivering as the thin material of his shirt dried.

“Hey.” he said quietly, padding to the end of the jetty where Rodney sat curled over his fish and chips. 

“There you are!” Rodney exclaimed, brandishing and a chip and tipping himself back to smile at John, “You’re late! You’ve been off spear fishing or something equally moronic, haven’t you?”

John shrugged and folded himself down next to Rodney, stealing a piece of fish. Their ankles knocked together where they dangled out over the water. 

Rodney clicked his tongue. 

“Yes, yes, just take _all_ my fish. Do you have any idea how much of a fuss I had to make to ensure they didn’t serve it with lemon?” 

“ _Rodney_ , you like making a fuss.” John told him, swiping another bite of fish. 

Rodney sniffed and chewed defiantly on a soggy chip. 

There was a rare silence between them, and John twisted about to catch a look at Rodney’s expression. 

It never got properly dark on the jetty unless there was a storm. The ocean in Rockingham Bay was too clear and still, reflecting every drop of light the moon lent it back onto Rodney’s face. The slant of his mouth was a little more lopsided than usual, and the corners of his eyes were tight. 

“How was the funeral?” John asked him, stretching back to lie above the wooden slats. 

Rodney shrugged. 

“They had these little salmon quiche things. They were pretty good. I swear they serve better food at wakes than weddings. And Jeanie and Mum argued about ‘appropriate funeral attire’ for three hours this morning. You know you’re lying in seagull shit, right?” 

“It’s a jetty, _Rodney_. It’s covered in seagull shit.” 

“Yes, I _know_. That was what I was trying to tell you. It’s _unsanitary_.”

John kicked Rodney in the ankle and waited for a lecture on avian diseases that never came. Instead Rodney shoveled the last of the fish into his mouth in one go. 

“He’s been cremated.” he told John, still chewing. 

John had never mastered the art of talking gracefully through a mouthful of food like Rodney could. 

“Yeah?” he asked, between chips. 

“Yep. And of course, he has this idiotic request about what we’re meant to do with the ashes. Wants us to scatter them at some god forsaken rock out woop woop.” 

Rodney flailed particularly violently as he tried to indicate just how far from civilisation this rock was, and nearly lost his deep fried mars bar into the sea. 

“It’s _completely_ unreasonable of course. So now we’re just going to have this, this, stupid bloody urn sitting around. Except that it’s not a _real_ urn, just the thing they gave us the ashes in, and it’s really ugly and plastic, and one day someone’s going to knock it over and break it somehow, and they’ll feel guilty about it _forever_. Because no one is ever actually going to take it to Wave Rock, especially because Jeanie just let slip that she’s taking birth control so the whole house is in chaos. And what kind of moron wants their ashes scattered somewhere they’ve never even been? Seriously. He found that damn rock on a coaster in a pub!” 

John was alarmed to hear what sounded like the beginning of tears in Rodney’s voice. Rodney wasn’t exactly stoic, but John had only seen him cry twice since they met in fifth grade. Rodney had adored his grandfather, but this, right now, was unexpected. 

Panicking slightly, John tapped his knuckles on Rodney’s fingers in what he hoped was a reassuring way, and pushed himself up on his elbows so their sides were pressed together. 

“O-kay.” he drawled, “So how come – “

“Because he asked _me_!” Rodney snapped, “So it’ll be my fault if he ends up knocking about the house until we forget him in a move one day.”

“Ah.” 

John blinked, and slouched into Rodney’s side, turning it over in his head. He watched Rodney’s shoulders roll, saw him curl into himself, clutching his last chip in his big, steady hands. John ached to reach out and _fix it_ somehow. 

It was none of his business. 

This was definitely a family thing. 

And god knows if they’d even stay friends next year, with Rodney going overseas for university. He was the smartest guy around. He would figure something out. _Without_ John’s input. 

“My grandparents live right near Wave Rock.” John told Rodney, stretching back out to lie on the jetty. 

Rodney jerked around to stare at him. 

“I thought your grandparents lived in some abysmally dusty wheat belt town with a population of about three hundred?” 

John squinted up at the night sky and shrugged. 

“Kondinin. The rock’s maybe an hour’s drive out from there.” 

Rodney blinked down at him slowly, then narrowed his eyes. 

“Uh huh. So you’re suggesting…” 

“We could go, or something. Y’know, make a trip of it?” 

John could feel his palms sweating with his fingertips as he curled his hands into fists. The jetty squeaked a little as Rodney wiggled around to lean over him and stare thoughtfully at his face. 

“Really?” Rodney asked. 

Without giving John a chance to answer, Rodney launched himself to his feet and started pacing as fast as the narrow jetty would allow. 

“Yes. Right. Of course, that would work. We’d have to find a car to take. And something that could take the heat too…” 

He muttered to himself, clicking his fingers and throwing his hands out in improbably sharp and expressive gestures as he marched up and down on the wooden slats. John smiled at the scene, and deeming Rodney sufficiently distracted, swiped the deep fried mars bar and helped himself.

**Author's Note:**

> Now for our glossary of terms and other stuff! 
> 
>  
> 
> [This](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-67GzZ5ERs0E/UtaJmWTvFfI/AAAAAAAAD3I/9niacdwDKtE/s320/20140115_112900.jpg) is the jetty they're sitting on. It's in Rockingham, not far from my mum's house. 
> 
> Out woop woop - Located somewhere inconveniently far from civilisation. Yes, really. Our slang is a beautiful language. 
> 
> [Wave Rock](http://www.busair.com.au/images/Wave_Rock_2_f.jpg)is a great big fuck off rock that looks a lot like a wave. Ford isn't the only one who shouldn't be allowed to name things... 
> 
> Wheat belt town - Do you have wheat belt towns in America? In WA they're usually really dry and hot and tiny and pretty spread out. I cannot emphasise enough how dispersed the population of outback WA is. The wheat belt is dense compared to the rest of the inland areas, but you still have an hour's drive between each one pub town out there. I'll pop up some pictures of Kondinnin and the others when the boys get there. 
> 
>  
> 
> Hope you enjoyed it so far!


End file.
